Le Tigre Lounge
Decider's local jukebox reviews
Mike King
Where they haven’t been replaced by charmless, trend-crunching tune-bots, jukeboxes say a lot about a place—nay, enhance the place. In Jukeboxing, Decider spends some quarters and punches some buttons at Madison bars and venues. This edition takes a look at the jukebox at Le Tigre Lounge.
The box: Rising out of Le Tigre’s tiger-print carpeting is another endangered species of rare grace and beauty: an early 1980s-vintage Rowe, one of the last jukeboxes still spinning bona fide 45s in all their scratchy, nostalgia-soaked glory.
Price: $1 theoretically buys seven songs, but don't expect to hear all of them; this box has a mind of its own sometimes.
Drinkin' songs: Two of America's most terminally inebriated troubadours dominate the selection: Of the 100 records, 12 are by Frank Sinatra and 11 are by Elvis. Have the chairman of the board and the king battle it out with their takes on that self-destructive chestnut, "My Way."
Nerd jams: As much as it might suit the place, nothing outs a Le Tigre newcomer quicker than spinning Patsy Cline's "Crazy." It's bound to come on at least three times a night, so dig for a deeper Cline cut, like "Back in Baby's Arms." That's still the shallow end of a jukebox that rewards blind exploration, though, so don't be intimidated by mysteriously alliterative names like Freddy Fender, Kitty Kallen, or Bunny Berigan. This is certainly the only spot in town to hear them, so punch up Jackie Wilson's "Doggin' Around" and dive right in.
Locals: He may have died 66 years ago, but Berigan hailed from nearby Fox Lake, which hosts an annual "jazz jubilee" in his honor.
For bar time: Nothing crushes the night's possibilities like Celine Dion's "All By Myself," by far the most puzzling inclusion on Madison’s most puzzling jukebox.
Price: $1 theoretically buys seven songs, but don't expect to hear all of them; this box has a mind of its own sometimes.
Drinkin' songs: Two of America's most terminally inebriated troubadours dominate the selection: Of the 100 records, 12 are by Frank Sinatra and 11 are by Elvis. Have the chairman of the board and the king battle it out with their takes on that self-destructive chestnut, "My Way."
Nerd jams: As much as it might suit the place, nothing outs a Le Tigre newcomer quicker than spinning Patsy Cline's "Crazy." It's bound to come on at least three times a night, so dig for a deeper Cline cut, like "Back in Baby's Arms." That's still the shallow end of a jukebox that rewards blind exploration, though, so don't be intimidated by mysteriously alliterative names like Freddy Fender, Kitty Kallen, or Bunny Berigan. This is certainly the only spot in town to hear them, so punch up Jackie Wilson's "Doggin' Around" and dive right in.
Locals: He may have died 66 years ago, but Berigan hailed from nearby Fox Lake, which hosts an annual "jazz jubilee" in his honor.
For bar time: Nothing crushes the night's possibilities like Celine Dion's "All By Myself," by far the most puzzling inclusion on Madison’s most puzzling jukebox.
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